Special Post: Mockingjay Craft

Even though I have a really awesome Hunger Games t-shirt (it says, "Keep Calm and May the Odds Be Ever in Your Favor"), gifted to me by my best friend Lindsey, I decided to make something inherently awesome to celebrate the opening of the movie version of Suzanne Collins' masterpiece.

Thanks to the wonder of Pinterest, I found a great Mockingjay template and a neat idea for putting a symbol onto a shirt. Basically, you cut out a symbol/letters on paper, place it on a shirt, and spray bleach around the image. This way, the fabric around the symbol becomes lighter. Peel away the symbol, and you're left with darker fabric underneath.

Here is a link to the Mockingjay template.
Here is a link to the DIY tutorial for a bleached shirt.

My work space is not the most organized, but I work better in chaos.

My crafting partner stayed at my feet during the process.

I started out with an old black t-shirt, the Mockingjay template (on plain paper, but I suggest using cardstock), an X-Acto knife, and a bottle of spray bleach. My bleach was completely undiluted, although some tutorials will tell you to use a 70%/30% solution. I'll be trying that eventually.

For my "trial run," I cut along the lines on the template exactly. The template was originally made for carving a pumpkin, which is why there are breaks along the circle. I thought it would look cool that way, so I cut the spaces out just as it's shown. Here is what the template looked like when I tested it on scrap fabric:

As you can see, because the template was in several piece, the bleach leaked under the edges. The arrow in the Mockingjay's mouth is almost invisible because it's so thin.

So, I decided to print another template and trace around the entire image. I cut on my mark, not the edge of the template.

I also didn't cut out the breaks this time.

I didn't take pictures of the bleaching process, but I just took the shirt and template outside and laid it on my glass patio table. I placed some cardboard in between the layers of the shirt, and put the template in the center. Spray the bleach above the shirt and let the mist fall down onto the shirt. Because I used black, the color was radically altered. If you used a lighter color shirt, you may not have to bleach the entire front, but on black I pretty much didn't have a choice. After the front dried a little, I hung the shirt on a hanger on the clothes line and sprayed the back to match.

I read (after the fact) that you should dunk the shirt in a sink full of cold water soon after the color starts to turn. This will keep the bleach from eating through the material. I think I left mine on a little too long before rinsing it, because it feels a little thin. It was an old shirt, anyway, so maybe that's why it seems a little frail. I rinsed it in the sink, then thew it in the washer with detergent. Some of the tutorials I read said to run it through a wash cycle with no detergent... Mine turned out fine with soap. It's up to you, I guess. I ain't no expert... But I know I have a pretty cool shirt!

Book #27 -- Mockingjay

Derrick has already given you his thoughts on Suzanne Collins' final book in The Hunger Games trilogy, Mockingjay. Now it's my turn. I waited over 24 hours to gather my thoughts on this, and I'm still not sure I'm ready to review it. I'm going to try anyway. I'm going to try not to be too specific in case anyone reading this hasn't read the first two (and if you haven't, you should be ashamed), but there may be some spoilers.You've been warned



In Mockingjay, Katniss finds herself in the center of a revolution. The rebels are using her as the "face" of their cause, and the Capitol (the old regime in Panem) is determined to get rid of her. She's adjusting to a new way of life now that she's living outside of Panem's law, and she's also dealing with the fact that she feels personally guilty for so many deaths. Then there's the whole Peeta/Gale thing, and the fact that a lot of her former "team" members are being held and tortured by the Capitol. You know, basically the same thing every seventeen year old deals with. No big deal.

Despite the fact that there's a lot of stuff going on in this book, it's somehow still pretty slow. I read both of the first books in a couple of days each, in that "couldn't-put-it-down" fashion. This one took me... oh... almost a month. The pacing just seemed a little off. It seemed like the first 3/4ths dragged and the last 1/4th was rushed. Or that there just wasn't so much of an ending at all? I don't know, I'm so conflicted about this.

I wouldn't say that I'm disappointed, it's just that it feels a little empty. But I think it's supposed to. It is empty. There's no sense of hope and triumph and "yaaaay, it all worked out!" Strange for any book these days, but especially a young adult book. I was sad when I finished it, for sure. Much like Derrick said, I think the more I think about it, the more I understand why things happened the way they did, but man... I got so invested in all of these people that I wanted a little better for them.

Obviously, I still recommend the entire series, and for God's sake, if you've read the other two, don't skip the last one. But don't expect an epic feel-good ending, 'cause it ain't there.

Here's what I found the most interesting, though. At the end of the book, in Collins' acknowledgments, you will find this:

"... Jason Dravis, my longtime entertainment agent, I feel so lucky to have you watching over me as we head for the screen."

Well. That's intriguing.

3.5/5 stars

Read from October 5, 2010 to October 25, 2010.

--C

Book #10: The Hunger Games

So, I totally read this book in about 28 hours. The Girl Who Played with Fire is certainly a tough contender in the Best Books I've Read This Year battle, but this one gives it a run for its money. I have to give a big, fat "thank you" to my sister-in-law for recommending this book, because there is literally no way I ever would have picked it up otherwise. It sounds more like something Derrick would read -- not really my style. But oh. It is magnificent.

What used to be North America is now known as Panem. It is divided into twelve districts and ruled by a harsh government known as the Capitol. To ensure the citizens in the districts are always aware that the Capitol controls them completely, there is a yearly contest known as The Hunger Games. In the Games, one boy and one girl (between the ages of 12 and 18) from each of the districts are taken to an arena in which they fight to the death. The last child remaining is the winner, and their district will be rewarded. The children participating in the games are expected to use whatever they can -- wit, charm, combat, hunting, deception, whatever -- to make it out alive. And everyone in the nation is watching the whole thing on television.

I can't explain how insanely awesome this book is. It's written for young adults, but make no mistake about the content -- it's deep and sophisticated and brilliant. It's so twisted that at times it reminded me of a scaled-down Palahniuk book, but the bizarre society aspect reminded me a little of The Giver by Lois Lowry (one of my all-time favorites). So... it's like The Giver meets meets The Most Dangerous Game (the short story by Richard Connell) meets the reality show Survivor. Except it's better than all of them.

The narrator, Katniss, is a tough 16-year-old from the poorest district (District 12) who finds herself fighting against 23 other teenagers in the Games. This character easily carries the plot of the book, and you're fighting right there with her the entire time. The sheer weight of the situation, the strange celebratory feel of such a horrible event, and some unlikely alliances make The Hunger Games the best book I've read in 2010. This is the first book in a trilogy by Suzanne Collins, and I can't wait to get my hands on the second book. The third comes out in August, so start reading now.

Read from May 11, 2010 to May 12, 2010

5/5 stars

--C